Who Has Seen the Universe Born and Destroyed—Even Ram Facing Death in Every Kalpa?

“Like bubbles on the surface of the ocean, the universes arise, exist and dissolve in the infinite consciousness of the Supreme.” – Yoga Vasistha

Time, to the modern mind, is a linear arrow – ever marching forward. But to the ancient Rishis of Sanatana Dharma, time was a wheel, a cycle, an eternal repetition of birth, death, and rebirth—not just of individuals, but of civilizations, deities, and even universes. One of the most mystical illustrations of this cosmic truth is found in the story of Kaka Bhusundi, the immortal crow who has witnessed the Ramayana eleven times—and counting.


The universe we inhabit, as vast and mysterious as it appears, is but a speck in the ocean of existence. The Rishis declare that there are countless universes, each filled with beings we cannot even imagine, each governed by different dharmic laws. When Lord Rama sits at the feet of Rishi Vasistha for 22 days in what is known as the Yoga Vasistha or the Maha Ramayana, he is not merely seeking answers about his kingdom or his duties as a prince. He is yearning to understand Reality itself.

And Rishi Vasistha reveals a profound truth: creation is infinite. The beings of this universe—humans, animals, Devas, Asuras—are just one set of expressions in a divine play that unfolds differently across universes. In one of his deepest revelations, Vasistha tells Rama about his encounter with Kaka Bhusundi, a seer-turned-crow, condemned yet blessed to live through eternity, witnessing the rise and fall of entire worlds.

Once a Rishi, Bhusundi was cursed to live as a crow due to his ego and arrogance. But due to his intense devotion to Rama, he was granted immortality. In this new form, he not only survived ages but became an observer of time itself.

“It is the eleventh time Vishnu has taken the avatar of Rama,” he once said. “I have seen the torturing of the worlds by Hiranyaksha three times, Vishnu’s descent as Parashurama six times, the return of hundreds of Kali Yugas and as many appearances of Buddha. Vishnu has been Narsimha thrice. This is not reality. It is only a temporary illusion—like a bubble in water.”

This passage from Yoga Vasistha isn't metaphorical—it is a spiritual bombshell. It suggests that entire cosmic events repeat, and beings like Kaka Bhusundi live through these cycles, bearing witness to their inevitability. The Ramayana isn’t a one-time epic; it is a recurring cosmic pattern—a divine Leela that repeats itself across different Kalpas, slightly altered each time, yet fundamentally the same.


Kaakbhushundi was not always an immortal crow. He was once a learned Brahmin in Ayodhya, proud and deeply entrenched in his knowledge. However, his arrogance displeased Lord Shiva, who saw the flaw in his devotion. Shiva’s disciple, a compassionate yet strict guru, cursed Kaakbhushundi to endure countless births, cycling through animals, plants, and human forms.

But divine grace often works in paradoxes. Instead of breaking him, the curse awakened within him an intense longing for truth. His countless lifetimes cultivated within him humility, surrender, and an unshakeable devotion to Ram. In his final birth, Shiva blessed him with an immortal existence as a crow, free from karmic bondage but still present in the cycles of time.


The universe is vast, and time moves in spirals rather than straight lines. In each Kalpa, the divine play unfolds differently—sometimes with minor changes, sometimes with grand divergences. Kaakbhushundi, perched in his eternal wisdom, sees them all.

He has seen Ayodhya emerge and dissolve countless times. He has seen Ram embrace his mortal fate, surrendering to death in every age. He has observed how the same story unfolds with slight differences in each cosmic cycle. For him, the past, present, and future are but ripples in the same ocean.

He narrates this secret knowledge to Garuda, the celestial eagle of Vishnu, who is bewildered by the complexity of time and fate. Garuda, though powerful, is stunned to learn that Ram, the Supreme Being himself, submits to death’s embrace in every era. Through this conversation, Kaakbhushundi teaches one of the greatest lessons of Hindu philosophy—Maya, or illusion, does not just deceive mortals. It permeates the entire universe, even touching the divine incarnations.

If Ram is the Supreme Being, why does he die? Why does he suffer? The answer lies in the paradox of divine play—Leela. The world is an illusion, yet it is real within its own framework. Ram, as Vishnu’s avatar, chooses to experience mortality to uphold Dharma. His death is not an end but a necessary event in the grand cosmic order.

Kaakbhushundi, having seen this unfold countless times, understands the deeper essence of devotion. To love Ram is to love him beyond form, beyond birth and death. It is to surrender not to an individual incarnation but to the eternal essence that pervades all existence

This idea isn’t restricted to one scripture. In the Parasara Samhita, there’s a peculiar tale: Hanuman is sent to retrieve Shri Rama’s ring, which fell through the earth. He descends to Patala Loka, only to find a heap of identical rings there. Each one belonged to a different cycle of Ramayana. Every time the same story unfolded, the same ring ended up in the same spot.

This is not just a mystical anecdote—it’s a symbolic hammer strike, shattering our assumptions about time. Events, emotions, wars, love, dharma, and adharma—they all repeat. Not because of fate, but because they are built into the software of the cosmos.


This repetition is what Sanatana Dharma calls Maya—the cosmic illusion. It makes each cycle feel real and unique, even though it is just a shadow of the original truth. And this is where the idea of Moksha becomes central—not as a religious ideal but as the only escape from the simulation.

If we are caught in a reality that repeats without end, are we any different from characters in a looped video game? As the 2017 CERN study revealed, the symmetry between matter and antimatter is so perfect, that logically, the universe should not exist. Plus one and minus one should cancel each other out—zero. Yet, we are here.

Why?

It is this inexplicable asymmetry—this existence despite the impossibility of existence—that suggests what the Yogis already knew: we are living in a projection, a simulation, a Leela. Just like the Matrix movie envisioned, we are unaware of the deeper code, the hand behind the veil.

And so the Yogis offered a solution. They didn't turn to equations or formulas. They turned inward. Chanting, without break or distraction, becomes the tool to penetrate the illusion. It isn't merely sound; it is vibration, alignment, and remembrance of the Supreme. It tunes the mind out of Maya’s noise and into the eternal silence beyond time.

It is Devi, the cosmic feminine, who controls this illusion. From the petals of the smallest flower to the infinite galaxies, She governs everything. To realise Her is to wake up. To dissolve into Her is Moksha.

Interestingly, modern physics is beginning to scratch the surface of this ancient knowledge. Theories about multiverses, simulated realities, and cyclical universes are no longer the realm of science fiction. They are discussed in Ivy League labs, simulated in quantum models, and hinted at in particle accelerators.

Yet the Rishis didn’t need machines. They had Tapasya. They had the vision of Bhusundi.

So, why does our past repeat? Because time is not a line—it is a wheel. And on that wheel are inscribed the stories of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, and you. The same mistakes, same wars, same spiritual awakenings—all encoded into the fabric of existence.

Until one wakes up.

Until one steps off the wheel and realises the truth:

"This world-appearance is a confusion, even as the blueness of the sky is an optical illusion. I think it is better not to let the mind dwell on it, but to ignore it." – Yoga Vasistha

The Ramayana isn’t just history. It is eternity—repeating, rippling through time, waiting for one Bhakta, one seeker, to see through it and realise that it was never real to begin with.

And that is Moksha.